Reflections on Babywearing

My Introduction to Babywearing

I am amazed by what a huge part of my life babywearing has been over the past two years.  I had a difficult pregnancy, which ended with a month of bed rest followed by delivering six weeks early via an unplanned c-section due to severe pre-eclampsia.  My amazing little premie, Zoey, was in the NICU for just under two weeks.  This was actually a much shorter stay than the doctors had predicted when she was born.  We were very blessed with how well she did, how quickly she was able to come off oxygen and how quickly she was able to start eating on her own.  Still the trials of having a baby born and whisked straight away to the NICU can be a very emotional and difficult thing to deal with.  In the moment, I didn’t realize quite how much I was struggling with it all.  I was still having my own health issues as well, while Zoey was being treated in the NICU.  For most moms, delivering stops the pre-eclampsia symptoms.  I was one of the minority who continued to have issues for several days after delivery.

Looking back on it, I can easily see that I was becoming depressed from a combination of my health issues, going home without Zoey, dealing with the daily stress of the NICU and postpartum hormones.  At the time, I continued to insist I was fine.  I eventually listened to my husband’s concerns about my frequent crying spells and I talked with my doctor.  She was able to put me on a medicine that helped me.  When Zoey was about two months old, I discovered babywearing through a small facebook group of new mom’s.  The babies looked so happy in the wraps and it looked so convenient for the moms.  I ordered my first wrap off of Amazon within a few days of learning about babywearing.

My first wrap was a hot pink Boba, which is a stretchy wrap (similar to a Moby).  I loved my Boba and how close it helped me to feel to Zoey.  I hadn’t admitted it to myself, but I had been struggling to bond with her.  I’m not saying that wrapping her up and snuggling her suddenly made everything perfect, but it was certainly a step in the right direction for us. 

I am so grateful for all of the wonderful babywearing moms I have met both in person and through facebook groups.  My first few attempts at wrapping were not the best, but with constructive criticism I improved my technique and we enjoyed hours of safe snuggles in our Boba.  We have since moved on to woven wraps and soft-structured carriers (SSCs), but the Boba will always have a special place in my heart for leading me to an activity that has brought so much joy to my life.   

My First Woven Wrap 

After a few days of wrapping with my stretchy wrap, I was able to attend a local babywearing group meeting and learned about woven wraps.  As babies get bigger, woven wraps are a great option.  Wovens are more supportive than the stretchy wraps and can be used safely for back carries, unlike the stretchy wraps.  So shortly after the babywearing meeting, I found myself on the hunt for my first woven wrap.  There are so many choices out there!

The first question I had was what size wrap should I buy for my first woven wrap.  Woven wraps come in a variety of sizes, typically ranging from size 2 – size 7.  A size 2 is 2.7 meters, size 3 is 3.1 meters, size 4 is 3.6 meters, size 5 is 4.2 meters, size 6 is 4.6 meters and a size 7 is 5.2 meters.  I asked on my local babywearing group’s facebook page and in a very helpful, large facebook group called Babywearing 102.  The general consensus was that for my body build I should start with either a size 5 or 6, which would be my base size.  The majority recommended a 6, so that’s what I decided to search for.

So now I knew what size I was going to buy, the next big question was what brand.  There is no right or wrong answer to this question.  I was given several pieces of advice on this, but one that has really stuck with me and that I now share with beginners is find a wrap you love.  If it is beautiful to you and you absolutely love it, you will learn to use it.  I considered several brands such as Natibaby, Girasol, Kokadi, and Oscha.  I ended up going with a Kokadi Erna Im Wunderland.  It was beautiful turquoise and pink colors and had a whimsical pattern that I loved.

After deciding what I wanted to buy, the next step was to figure out how exactly to buy it.  There are several facebook groups called Babywearing Swaps, where you can buy, sell or trade wraps.  I perused some of these, but at the time this seemed really overwhelming (more on buy, sell and trading in the swaps in later posts).  So while lots of people recommended buying a used wrap for your first woven wrap, since it would already be broken in, I decided this wasn’t the right choice to for me.  Luckily, Erna was still in production by Kokadi and I could purchase it new from a vendor.  It took a bit of searching to find a vendor with a size 6 in stock, but I finally did.  Then I ordered it and anxiously awaited the arrival of my beautiful new woven wrap.

My first wrap job was a little sloppy.  See first picture below, but I posted this picture to the babywearing facebook groups and was given helpful critiques to help me improve my wrap job.  The second picture was taken just hours after the first.  I improved dramatically between these two attempts, if I do say so myself!  I am so grateful for the kind women in the babywearing community who have answered the “How does this wrap job look?”  “Did I do this right?”  “What should I buy for my first wrap?”  and “What size should I get for my first wrap?” questions of us beginners dozens of times.  I hope this article may help to answer those questions for some future newbies to babywearing!

The carry in these pictures is called Front Wrap Cross Carry (abbreviated FWCC).  This is one of the easiest carries to learn and a great place for a beginner to start.  In fact, it was my go to carry for the first few months of my babywearing journey.  It is still one of my two year old's favorite carries, though I now prefer back carries.

My rails are not properly tightened here in my first attempt and Zoey was too low.  She should be high enough that I can easily kiss the top of her head while she is wrapped.

In the next picture, my rails are much tighter and she is much more secure.  She could have still been a little higher, but overall this was a much better more comfortable carry.

The Sentimental Side of A Babywearing Wrap Collector

I love babywearing and woven wraps.  Handwoven wraps take things to a whole new level of awesomeness!  And custom handwoven wraps up the ante even more.

There are several woven wrap makers that I follow on Facebook.  A few of my favorites are Zatgebo, KHR, Stewed Rhubarb, ETLA and Uppymama.  Well a year or so ago Zatgebo announced a wrap inspiration contest on her Facebook page.  You could submit a photo along with the style of wrap you would like made from the photo.  Her fourteen year old daughter would be selecting the winner.  So, I tried to think, what did I like when I was fourteen?  What would I have found inspiration worthy all those years ago?  For me, one of the most inspirational scenes in the world both then and now is a beautiful sunset by the ocean.  I looked through lots of beach sunset pictures, until I found the perfect one.  It is from a beach that my husband and I visited on a trip to Kauai several years ago called Poipu.  When I sent in my email for the contest, I explained how much I loved the ocean and how I hoped to return to this beach with my daughter, Zoey, and would love to have a wrap inspired by this beach to wear her in on that return trip.  Imagine my surprise a few days later, when Wendi (the owner of Zatgebo) posted my picture on her page!  I was the winner!  I was going to get my first Zatgebo and it was going to be my very own custom designed wrap!

The process of working with Wendi was awesome.  She mocked up the wrap from my inspiration photo.  She did a few different versions and I selected my favorite.  This was difficult because they were all gorgeous!  She helped explain the differences that the different weft colors would make in the appearance of the wrap.  Wendi made five pieces of my custom wrap.  I purchased three pieces of it.  I originally selected a 4.8 meter piece with a black cottolin weft in plain weave.  The warp is Egyptian cotton and amazingly soft.  Wendi selected the other weft colors and she did a great job.  I also had a 4.3 meter piece in twill weave with navy American mercerized cotton weft and a 3.4 meter piece in twill weave with pink Egyptian cotton weft.  Wendi also made a piece with periwinkle weft for her personal stash and a  ring sling piece with a gray weft.  To say that I love these wraps would be a bit of an understatement.

The inspiration picture.

The mock-up

Okay, so now that I have went on and on about how gorgeous these wraps are, you’d probably like to hear something about the wrapping qualities right?  Well, okay, I can do that because these wraps do not disappoint on that front either.  Zatgebos do not have tapered ends.  This was my first experience with a wrap with blunt ends.  I think this does make it wrap a touch shorter, but this is something that I have quickly gotten used to.  The 100% Egyptian cotton shorty with the pink weft is the softest wrap that I have ever felt, yet it is still a very solid wrap.  I have mainly used it for a ruck tied in front and various hip carries.  The ruck stays in place even with just a single knot in the front.  It is very cushy on my shoulders and very supportive.  The long wrap with the black cottolin weft is just amazing.  This wrap makes the most comfortable double hammock of any of my current wraps.  It is very cushy on my shoulders and has just the right amount of grip for me.  I find it easy to wrap with, my passes will glide into place, but it has enough grip that it holds even if I tie off with a single knot.  I wore my 19 pound, 9 month old for over an hour on a hike with our two dogs and she felt weightless.  I'm definitely smitten with this wrap!  I just recently parted with the gorgeous navy twill weft in a trade to another awesome handwoven wrap.  Before I let it leave, my husband did a photo shoot of me and Zoey in it.  I mainly wore her in a FWCC for the shoot.  This wrap is truly amazing.  This is the thickest of the pieces that I owned and is extremely cushy.  I wore my daughter for over an hour in a FWCC and we were both happy in it.  By the end of the photo shoot, she had settled in for a nap.  This rarely ever happens for us in front carries anymore.  

Double hammock in black weft, plain weave

FWCC in navy weft, twill

Ruck tied in front in pink weft, twill

Winding down of my Babywearing Days

I am slowly accepting that my babywearing days are coming to an end.  After all, I don't have a baby anymore, I have a very independent toddler.  She still occasionally wants wrap snuggles and I greatly enjoy each and every one of those opportunities.  I have started to sell off some of my wraps on the babywearing swaps, but it is so hard because I am sentimental and have emotional attachments to several of them.  Plus, I am now down to my favorites.  A person can have 12 favorites of something, right?  Other babywearing mommas will understand!  I hope Zoey will continue to occasionally go up for another year or two, so I can justify keeping just my favorite wraps!

Happy Babywearing, Sparkly Mommies!

Why I Love Consignment Sale Shopping

I really dislike consignment shops, but I love the pop-up one week (or some even less than that) sales.  There are a few great ones in my local area.  I participate in Rhea Lana's.  And I also shop at Little Lamb's Closet.

Before I had my baby, I went to a few consignment stores to see what kind of deals I could find.  I left overwhelmed, discouraged and empty-handed.  The clothing racks were so crammed into the tiny space that a normal person could barely move around.  Now imagine being six months pregnant with swollen feet and trying to move around in this tiny space.  So that was strike one.  Next, the clothing itself did not look like something I would want to take home to my newborn.  It looked like they accepted every piece of clothing brought in the door.  Some of it was stained, very wrinkled or even smelled bad.  That was strike two.  And finally, the prices.  While they were obviously much cheaper than retail, they really weren't that much better than what a savvy shopper could do with Carter's coupons and shopping the Saturday morning doorbuster specials.  So that was strike three.  And with that I thought I was done with consignment shopping.

Then when my baby was a couple months old a friend shared a facebook page called Rhea Lana's.  They were a special pre-sale to their consignment event for new moms and people who liked them on facebook.  A few of friends said they were going, so I figured it was worth checking out.  The racks were spread out nicely and the big ticket items were set up in a separate room to make browsing simple.  I immediately felt more comfortable here than I had at the consignment shop.  The prices were better here too.  Toddler jeans were priced $3 a pair, infant pajamas were bundled together in sets of 2 for $3, onesies were bundled in sets of 3 or more for $3.  It was great.  I was all set to start loading up and then I saw the check out line.  It wrapped around the room!  It was like Black Friday just for new mommies.  And with that I left again empty-handed, but intrigued.

That was at the fall sale for Rhea Lana's.  I did some research and learned that they had one every spring and fall.  I did a little more research and learned that if you consigned items then you got to shop early and if you volunteered with set-up, check out, etc. you got to shop even earlier.  So I decided I would give consigning a go in the spring.

Consigning was really simple.  I loaded my item descriptions and prices in online.  I didn't know what to expect, as far as how much of my stuff would sale.  I tried to price it really reasonably and bundle some good items together to make them more likely to sell.  The drop off process went smoothly and I learned one of the reasons why the clothes looked so much nicer at Rhea Lana's than a regular consignment shop.  The check-in ladies are very picky!  One of my onesies had a very tiny stain that I hadn't even noticed at home, but under the store's fluorescent lights you could just see it.  The check-in lady made me remove it.  At the time, I was slightly annoyed, but in retrospect I understand that this is truly a service they are providing to all of the shoppers.  It's no fun wading through the stained, smelly items to try to find that awesome deal.  So I get it now.

When the consignor pre-sale time arrived, I prayed that it wouldn't be as crowded as the new mom and facebook pre-sale I had attended the prior year.  I was so thankful to see that there was probably only 75 to 100 other shoppers entering the store with me.  I was able to browse, though I would recommend browsing quickly to snatch up all those great deals.  I bought my daughter tons of footie pajamas at great prices.  Those seemed to be one of the first items to go.  Also, toddler jeans went fast and shoes that were priced right.  Some people seem to think they can still get half of what they paid out of their used shoes.  They just aren't going to sell at that price.  But the ones priced $10 or so, those move quickly.  I spent about $120, but I had my daughter's next season daycare wardrobe.  We also found an amazing deal on a walker that turned into one of Zoey's favorite play things. I felt like super-mom!

I was also excited about the online tracking.  It updates live online as people shop, so you can log in to your account and find out how much you have made throughout the sale.  I might have become a little obsessed with checking to see if something new had sold!  What can I say, it was exciting to see those numbers continue to go up.  I ended up making about $115.  So yes, I spent more than I made, but basically I traded in my daughter's outgrown clothes for next season's wardrobe, plus a few toys.  Now I think that is a win!

Tips and Tricks

• Get there right on time for your pre-sale group's shopping time!
• Take a tote bag or something else large with a shoulder strap to carry around your finds.
• If at all possible, leave your child at home!!
• Know your shopping list in advance - such as I want 5 pairs of footie pajamas, 5 pairs of jeans, 1 coat, etc.  Look for your wish list items first!  The best stuff moves fast!
• Check your sales online!  It's fun!
• If you have time, iron your items!  They will sell faster!
• Bundle items together:  if you have one plain skirt and one really adorable skirt, bundle them to help add value to the deal!

Good luck, Sparkly Mommies!  Happy shopping!

*I am in no way affiliated with Rhea Lana's other than being a happy shopper and consignor.

Touchstone Crystal: My Launch Party

So when you first join a Touchstone Crystal team, your first goal is to have a $500 Launch Party.  My personal goal was to have a $600 Launch Party because at $600 you are eligible for the monthly host special.  In my first month, the host special just happened to be double host credit!!  I was so excited when I found that out.  What a great way to help me build up my display case quickly!

I created a facebook event, which I have learned is not the best way to reach most of my group.  A few people accepted that invitation, but text messages and actual hard copy invites seemed to work better for me.  I think this will vary from group to group.  Amie, my mentor, recommended that I invite everyone in two different ways.  I had 8 people attend my party and two people who couldn't make it to the party, but saw the catalog before the party, loved the jewelry and placed an order.  So do you think I met my $600 Launch Party goal?  Not only did I meet it, I doubled it!  My party had over $1,200 in sales.  I knew how much I loved this jewelry, but it was very encouraging to my new business venture to see how much all of my friends loved it too!  I received over $700 in free jewelry, plus I met a new consultant incentive goal for reaching my first $1,000 in sales.  I received a $200 product certificate for meeting this goal and I also received a coupon to purchase products at 70%!  What a great start to building my business!

My successful launch party has left me so ready to get out and concur the world!  Everyone needs some sparkle in their wardrobe and I think I'm just the Sparkly Mommy to bring them that sparkle.  Touchstone Crystal has such a great incentive plan to start new consultants out in this business.  I haven't felt this passionate about anything in years.  I am so excited about the jewelry, the opportunity and the wonderful friends that I have made in this new venture!

Here are a few of my favorite pieces that I have earned for FREE with either hostess or consultant rewards so far!

My New Venture with Touchstone Crystal by Swarovski

I love sparkle!  I pretty much love all things sparkly!  When the mall near my house was renovated last year and a Swarovski boutique opened, it was love at first sight for me.  I almost didn't go in the store because it looked so delicate and expensive and I had a rambunctious toddler with me, but I am so glad I decided to gamble on her being good and go on in.  Before discovering Swarovski jewelry, I had a few go to pieces of jewelry:  my wedding ring, some basic diamond hoops, a small diamond heart pendant and a bracelet or two.  Those are all I ever wore.  Jewelry wasn't a big part of my wardrobe.  After that first visit to the Swarovski boutique, that all changed!  I walked out of there with 3 bracelets and a ring, which was only the beginning of my love affair with Swarovski.  Fast-forward a year or so and a friend of mine liked something called Touchstone Crystal by Swarovski on facebook and it popped up in my news feed.  I see it and immediately must know what this other division of Swarovski sells.  After checking out the facebook page, the main webpage and doing some googling I was quickly sold on my newest adventure:  Touchstone Crystal by Swarovski.

So what is Touchstone Crystal by Swarovski, you may be wondering.  Let me tell you about it.  It is the new social-selling division of Swarovski.  It features gorgeous jewelry very similar to what you would find in the boutiques, but at a more affordable price point (not that the boutique prices are bad either).  There are so many wonderful things about Touchstone Crystal by Swarovski.  To just name a few the jewelry is all lead-free and nickel-free, there is a lifetime guarantee and they offer amazing hostess rewards!

The day after I discovered Touchstone Crystal by Swarovski, I sent in an email online asking to be put in contact with someone for more information on being a consultant.  I have never done direct sales before.  Honestly I had never really been interested in it, but I think that is mainly because I had never found a brand that I was passionate about.  I like the Thirty-One bags, but one or two is plenty for me.  But when I looked through Touchstone Crystal's catalog, I wanted to order half the book!!  Shortly after I sent in my request for more information, an amazing consultant named Amie emailed me.  I am so glad that I have got to know Amie through this process.  She is such a fun, kind, sweet person!  After talking with Amie a bit, I decided that I was ready to sign-up and order my Starter Kit.  The Basic Starter Kit has nearly $600 worth of jewelry in it and you only pay $139.  I am so excited about getting started with Touchstone Crystal!!  I love the starter kit and am wearing my pieces all the time.  Here are a few of my favorite pieces in the Basic Starter Kit.  Everyone loves the Ice Bracelet that I have been wearing pretty much everyday since my kit arrived!

Touchstone Crystal pays consultants between 25% - 40% commission of their sales depending on volume sold and level within the organization.  You can also earn 50% or 70% off of your personal purchases as a consultant.  If you want more information on how to start earning some bucks, for sharing the bling contact me through my Touchstone Crystal page.  www.touchstonecrystal.com/brandy  I'd love to hear from you!  I love sharing the sparkle!!

August is also the perfect month to host a Touchstone Crystal by Swarovski party.  Why you may ask?  Well for one the new Fall/Winter catalog just came out and it is awesome!!!  But even more importantly, in August we are offering DOUBLE host rewards for just $19 dollars with at least a $600 party.  So, let's take a moment and do some math.  Let's say you meet the minimum requirement for double rewards.  On a normal month, you receive 25% of $600 (or $150) as your hostess reward dollars (plus 3 half price items!!), BUT in August you receive DOUBLE reward dollars for just $19.  So you would get $300 to spend for just $19, plus your 3 half price items!!  Now let's say you have a ton of friends and you have a really great party and sales total $1,000.  Well normally, you would get 30% or $300 in reward dollars, BUT in August you get 60% in reward dollars...so that is $600 for just $19, plus at this level you get 4 half price items!!!  Pretty awesome deal for having a fun night with your girlfriends, right?  Contact me at brandy_pennington@hotmail.com if you are interested in getting in on these August specials!  (P.S. I'm new so I can't verify this, but I am told they only offer double hostess rewards once or twice a year!  So get it while it lasts!)

Candy Land 1st Birthday Party

Last year for Zoey's first birthday party, we had a Candy Land theme.  I had a lot of fun with it.  Zoey was too small to have any interest in most of the decorations, so mommy got to pick them out and have fun!

We bought glass vases at Hobby Lobby and filled them with pink, blue and violet colored candies and multi-colored lollipops to create the Candy Land look.  The best variety of these colorful candies was available through Oriental Trading Post.  They also had the large lollipops that we used as both decorations and party favors for guests.  They made great decorations, but unfortunately they did not taste as good as they looked.  We found this to be the case with most of the pretty, colorful candies we ordered.  We ordered the pink containers pictured above that look sort of like Chinese food take-out boxes for the kids and the kids at heart to use to tear down the candy display and take treats home as party favors.  I love being cost efficient, so I thought having the decorations double as party favors was a fun and thrifty idea!

 We made the cupcakes and cake for the party.  The 1 cake is covered and decorated with fondant.  My husband and I gave ourselves a crash course provided by googling how to make fondant the week before the party.  We were pretty pleased with how it turned out.  It was intended to be the smash cake and the cupcakes were for the party guests, but the birthday girl had other plans.  When we gave her the smash cake she just barely took a pinch off of it.  I think the fondant was a little too thick with her to deal with.  In retrospect, a buttercream frosting would have probably been a better idea.  So we improvised and gave her a cupcake.  She was more than happy to smash that!  She had a ball with it!

She had so much fun at her party and I loved making these memories!  It was a little exhausting, but so worth it!  

The Elmo Party!

Zoey just turned 2!  It's hard for me to believe that she's already 2.  Like lots of two year olds, she thinks the world revolves around Elmo.  So picking a theme for her birthday party was pretty easy, even though she doesn't know what the word theme means.  I spent a lot of time searching for the perfect decorations to make her Elmo party a little more girly.  I ordered most of our decorations from www.partycity.com/Elmo.  My favorite decoration was the large Sesame Street scene that we used to take pictures of all the adorable party guests and their furry friends!

I had a lot of fun creating Elmo, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster themed fruit and veggie trays.  I found this idea on Pinterest and wasn't really sure if I would be able to pull it off myself.  I am not the most crafty mommy around!  But with a little bit of patience and looking at Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch pictures several times on my phone, I succeeded!  It was almost a shame to eat them!

I used about 2 quarts of strawberries (halved), three packages of blueberries, two packages of blackberries, three bundles of broccoli, and one small bag of carrots to create these three characters.  The eyes are small white cups filled with fruit dip or veggie dip in Oscar's case.  These were a definite hit at the party.  Lots of our party guests were pulling out their phones to take pictures!

We also had cake, cupcakes, and cookies.  I mean it's a Sesame Street party, Cookie Monster wouldn't approve if we didn't have cookies!

The Sparkly Mom - Intro

I am really excited to start this blog as part of a start on a new journey in my life.  I am the mom of a precious, adorable, spunky two year old.  She is amazing!  She is also exhausting.  Motherhood has took a real toll on me over the past two years.  I had a difficult pregnancy, which included a month of bed rest and then a NICU premie, but thankfully she is healthy and amazing now!  I still don't think my body and mind have quite bounced back from the fatigue and stress of a difficult pregnancy and the strains of motherhood.  But I have decided that it is time I do something about that and start actively focusing on recovering me!  I spend so much time focusing on my child and my job (I'm an accountant - now doesn't that sound exciting) that I don't devote very much energy to myself.

I had mild postpartum depression and started seeing a therapist during that time.  I have continued seeing the therapist and she gave me a project a few months ago.  I had to design a pie chart showing how my time was currently spent and then one showing how I'd like for it to be spent.  I learned a few really important things from this exercise.  First, I learned that I spend a lot of time at work!  Second, when I started trying to create the how I want my time to be spent pie chart I had a hard time coming up with concrete examples.  I started with things like I want to spend more time with friends.  Well which friends?  The ones that I was super close to 7 years ago, but now live 3 hours away from?  Yea, probably not gonna happen.  The ones who are single and still think I should be able to stay out until 3 a.m.?  Ummm, yea also probably not gonna work.  The ones who also have infants and toddlers and barely have time to get any sleep as it is?  Well maybe, after all we do have a lot in common, but finding the time with everyone's busy schedules can be difficult.  Being a mommy can be very lonely.  I miss my core friend group from college and my core friend group from my first job in my early twenties and my core friend group from my partying days in my mid-twenties.  I've had so many great friends along this path called life, how did they suddenly all disappear?  Oh yea, I moved several hours away from some and then I had a baby and stopped having time to go out every weekend, or pretty much any weekend.  So anyway, that is my very long winded way of saying I realized that it is time to invest in myself and find my core friend group for my early thirties as a new mommy.  I am not yet sure what this is going to look like for me.  Maybe it will be some of the friends from the previous groups I mentioned that I can make more of an effort to connect with again or maybe it will be completely new friends who share my new interests and challenges.  I don't have all the solutions yet, but at least I have now identified the problem and am going to spend some time on me!

I am not sure where to start on this making friends journey.  It sounds so simple.  I have done it all my life!  But it is harder in your thirties!  Everyone is so busy.  I have decided to start with some activities that I will enjoy and if I make some new friends along the way then that's awesome and if not, at least I got some exercise or learned a new skill.  The first two things that I have decided to try are yoga and cake decorating.  I found a Groupon for a cheap deal on Yoga classes and I have always wanted to be able to decorate those gorgeous 3 tier cakes.